There’s an ad tech war brewing in Europe, with the Financial Times this week reporting that “Google is facing a new threat in its legal battle with Brussels, as its rivals ask regulators to probe the group’s dominance of the technology at the heart of the $60bn market for online display advertising.” The article continues: “Several companies — including OpenX and AppNexus, which is part-owned by WPP and Microsoft — have visited the European Commission in recent months to argue that Google may be unlawfully stifling competition in the market for advertising technology.”

According to The Drum, WPP’s GroupM has partnered with marketing services provider Networked Insights. “The move means GroupM employees from media agencies such as Mindshare, or MediaCom can employ insights gleaned from audiences’ posts on social media in order to better plan, or implement  their clients’ campaigns, as Networked Insight’s Kairos platform gives them access to such trends in real-time,” The Drum noted.

AdExchangerhas highlighted Accuen, the programmatic arm of Omnicom, noting that the ad tech platform grew over $30 million during the second quarter of 2015. “Omnicom is optimistic about Accuen’s growth potential,” wrote AdExchanger. “Omnicom CFO Philip Angelastro said growth from Accuen during the quarter accounted for about $30 million, though he didn’t split out total spend running through the platform – or total revenue.”

In an interview with Connexity, Xaxis Americas CEO Brian Gleason and Droga5 Co-founder Andrew Essex discuss the intersection of data and creative and how it will shape the “modern marketing exec.” “In 5 or 10 years, what does a successful CMO look like?” asked Connexity. “I don't necessarily think that the CMO of the future is very different from the CMO of today versus the CMO ten years ago,” Gleason said. “We all talk about data, but the reality is, we've had data for a long time.” Essex added that he thinks we will begin to see hybrids, as CMOs …

“Ad2Games, an online-games marketing tech firm, has appointed Sheila Kagan as chief operating officer and managing director,” reports VentureBeat. “The addition of Kagan, who has 10 years of experience in ad-tech companies, gives Ad2Games a high-profile female executive,” writes VentureBeat. “Her focus will be on boosting revenue and maximizing advertiser performance.”She joins Ad2Games from supply-side platform (SSP) Matomy.

Drawbridge, a cross-device programmatic ad platform, has landed its first chief operating officer in Winston Crawford, former head of Apple's mobile ad marketplace, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Geektime has posted an article exploring whether or not ad tech is in a bubble, writing that 33.5% of the $600 billion advertising pie will be spent on digital this year, “but lately adtech has come under fire from critics who think it is not a sustainable industry. Meanwhile, venture capitalists are investing less in adtech compared to last year,” the article reads. “Are these the signs of a bubble about to implode?” Geektime asks. “People will pay for content and services that they value, are convenient, or have no other free alternative. Minus that, adtech will likely reign supreme in …

According to eMarketer, citing recent research from Nordic real-time bidding (RTB) platform Delta Projects, programmatic ad spending has jumped by 212% year-over-year in Norway.

According to AdExchanger, a new group aptly named the Programmatic TV Standards Group, has formed to begin standardizing the budding programmatic TV industry.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has posted a Q&A with Diaz Nesamoney, CEO and founder of Jivox, on programmatic advertising and his new book, "Personalized Digital Advertising: How Data and Technology Are Transforming How We Market."